1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data communication service and, more particularly, to billing of subscribers for such service.
2. Description of Related Art
In the existing art, when a user signs up for data communication service, the service provider may provide the user with a palette of service plans from which to chose. One such service plan might allow the user to engage in an unlimited quantity of data communication for a fixed monthly recurring charge (MRC). Other service plans might provide different MRCs for different quantities of data, plus a per-unit charge for communication of data beyond the quantity allotted. For instance, one plan might allow the user to communicate up to 5 megabytes of data per month for an MRC of $5.00 with a charge of $0.08 for each additional kilobyte, another plan might allow the user to communicate up to 10 megabytes of data per month for an MRC of $10.00 with a charge of $0.07 for each additional kilobyte, and another plan might allow the user to communicate up to 30 megabytes of data per month for an MRC of $20.00 with a charge of $0.06 for each additional kilobyte. Still another service plan might allow a user to engage in an unlimited quantity of data communication for a per-unit charge, such as a charge of $0.10 per kilobyte of data communicated.
These sorts of service plans tend to work well for users who can manage their quantity of data communication well. That is, a user who can accurately predict the quantity of data that he or she will communicate per month can sensibly select a service plan that provides that quantity of data per month, for a known monthly charge.
Unfortunately, however, the same cannot be said for users who do not manage their quantity of data communication well. If a user cannot accurately predict the quantity of data that he or she will communicate per month, the user is likely to either under-subscribe or over-subscribe, and to thereby incur additional expense that is out of proportion with the user's actual use.
For instance, to avoid going over the base quantity of data allotted per month, a user might sign up for a plan that allows for much more data per month than the user is ever likely to communicate. However, such a plan would likely cost a user more than the user thinks, since the user would be paying for communication of more data than the user actually communicates. Alternatively, to avoid paying for more data communication in this way, the user might instead sign up for a plan that allows for less data per month than the user is likely to communicate. The end result of this alternative approach, however, would be that the user would pay more per month in additional charges per unit of data for data communicated beyond the maximum allotted.
Still further, if a user selects a service plan that allows the user to engage in an unlimited quantity of data communication for a fixed MRC or for a per-unit charge, the user may also pay more than the user could otherwise pay, since the service provider is likely to set the MRC or per-unit charge for such a plan to be high enough to cover users who engage in substantial data communication.